Introduction to Australian Culture and Literature Take-home Final Exam Name: Feby Halida Harara (Class C) | 1306373021 Answer: World War II has become the turning point of Australia’s immigration history. The Australian Government intended a massive post-war reconstruction and expansion program to show that Australia actually had a huge potential for growth and could offer a better life for people who were struggling living in Europe during and after the war. The belief that Australia needed an extended population was clearly be seen by threats to Australia in the World War II. It implicitly showed that although Australia had a vast land, when the population was still small, it was not enough to defend itself. This “view” triggered a sense of hunger to expand the population. There was only one choice, “Populate or Perish” -Bill Hughes. In 1945, the Department of immigration established the first migration program. With a very big support of prevalent community, they hope that the aim which was to increase Australia’s population could successfully be done with a target of an annual population increase from immigration of 1 per cent. The Government has maintained this program especially to help Australian public, business and trade union movement. Australia ratified a document of an agreement to assist passage freely for British ex- servicemen and their dependents, as well as for other selected British migrants. The later free passage schemes included ex-servicemen, freedom fighters from the USA, and people from a range of European countries. This agreement was purposed to resettle displaced people from camps in America and Europe. Furthermore, Australia was allowing them to immigrate as long as they wanted to be employed in the labour market to help build the nation’s economy. Then the displaced people at that time saw this as a great chance to get a “new home” and some form of employment. The first migrants from Britain arrived in January 1947 and the first displaced people arrived in Fremantle in November 1947. The program reached the top of the peak in 1949 that almost 120.000 assisted migrants arrived in Australia. Then not only from the USA and Europe, Australia also accepted non-European refugees. Most of the refugees arriving in the Extended Response 2 Describe the ways in which Australia has changed its immigration intake since 1945